Oops, Realtors' sales numbers were off a bit

March 27, 2005|By Mary Umberger.

We pause now for a slight technical update and a bunch of awkward throat-clearing: The National Association of Realtors has announced that, after a considerable amount of accounting catch-up, its statements of the actual number of single-family homes sold in this country since 1989 were off by about 7 million.

On average, this amounts to sales estimates being wrong an average 10 percent each year, the group said. The restated number would mean that Americans sold 65.1 million homes in that time frame, not the previously announced 72.4 million.

The trade association said it revised the numbers after comparing its estimates (taken from multiple listing services around the country) with census data. It also concluded that some of the nation's MLSes toss newly built homes in with figures on resales, which has muddied the totals.

Not to worry, the NAR says: The years that were declared to be record-setting are still that, including the final figures for 2004, when single-family sales were 5.96 million, not the previously reported 6.68 million.

Things you really, really need to know

Several years ago, Elvis Presley aficionados in a southwest Chicago suburb built a house that's a replica of Graceland, the singer's former home in Memphis. Now, we have an architectural expression of hero worship on a loftier level. A real estate developer in North Reading, Mass., has built a 7,000-square-foot homage to Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson.

The house, which has a cupola, rotunda, 6 1/2 bathrooms and remote-controlled gas fireplaces, is not for sale. The builder plans to keep it as an investment and rent it out for about $5,000 a month.

Building the original took Jefferson several decades, but the replica went up in about 18 months. It must have something to do with the builder's experience. Previously, he built a home nearby that's modeled after the White House.

- The owners of a restaurant in San Luis Obispo, Calif., are trying to promote the sale of that property by noting its connection to the well-known locals who founded it in 1998 -- Scott and Laci Peterson. Laci and her unborn child were killed in 2002, and her husband, Scott, was convicted of their murder.

- When a builder in Staten Island, N.Y., learned that his request to demolish a 19th Century house had been delayed because the local landmarks commission was interested in the property, he decided to express his frustration by spray-painting the house with vividly colored polka dots.

The builder intends to raze the house and erect nine townhouses, a move that would be prohibited if the home were to be designated a landmark. The historical commission said it had attempted to notify the builder that the house was under such consideration, but the man said that he hadn't received the letter and that the move would violate his property rights, according to local reports.

- In an unspoken affirmation that apparently every man, woman and child on the planet has refinanced in the last two years, a mortgage company in Huntington Beach, Calif., is offering $1 million to the first person who can bring in a "certified extraterrestrial being" for a home loan.

Granted, it's an original promotional effort -- but darn, I guess I just don't have room for the company's name in my column. ...

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